Review: 2021 Subaru Ascent Premium

During a fishing trip to the coast last week, I ran into Chad Foster. Some of my fellow fly anglers will recognize that name as the host of the popular "Fly Fishing America" which ran for eight seasons on national television.  A native of Lafayette, Chad was a highly successful businessman while in his early 20s, and by age 33 took a step back to get involved with Special Olympics and later as an author and youth skills motivator.

Chad had been fishing with a mutual friend, John Williams of Pack and Paddle.  He noticed I was driving a Subaru Ascent and stated he was interested in an Ascent. He then had the distinction of being the 100th person to ask me about my vehicle. For that, he wins a Big Mac Meal from McDonalds. But maybe I'll send him a box of Plantation Pride pecans instead.

Yes, everyone - I mean everyone - has asked me about my Ascent. So to avoid having to write up a detailed report every time someone asks, I'm simply going to post this and refer to this blog post.

Subarus are popular. Especially with the outdoors crowd - and dog owners. We qualify as both. Two years ago, our daughter bought a Forester in the Base model. After driving and riding in it, my wife - in need of a new SUV - last summer bought a Forester in the Touring Edition.

A couple of months later, I was looking to replace my Highlander which had 240,000 miles. My older son and his wife were looking to replace their minivan. I had just sold a property and with the cash, was able to buy both him and I each a late model used vehicle (I stopped buying new vehicles years ago). We were both looking at 3rd row seat SUVs, so I got a chance to test out several models.

In the end, they chose a Ford Explorer. My choices were down to a Ford Explorer, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander, and Honda Pilot. There was also a highly-rated Hyundai model, but I didn't care for the odd design. While I liked the Pilot, the cost of maintenance and some reliability issues bothered me. My current and previous vehicles where Highlanders, and I knew they had rock solid reliability. The Explorer and Ascent were longer than the Highlander, and had quite a bit more cargo room with the 3rd seat down than the Toyota.

It was close call between the Explorer and Ascent, but the "fun" of driving, the gas mileage, and the safety features sold me on the Ascent.

After having driven this vehicle for a little over a year, and across several parts of the country, I feel I can give a very good assessment.

PROS:
- This is just a fun vehicle to drive. It feels more like the Forester than a "full size" SUV.
- Gas mileage.  I get 24 mpg around town, 30-32 mpg on the highway.
- Cargo room. More spacious than my Highlanders were, I can hold a LOT of hiking and fishing gear.
- Safety features. This is Subaru's big selling pitch, and yes, it comes in handy at times.
- Full time four wheel drive standard. It's come in handy a few times already!

CONS:
- The turbocharged 4-cylinder really has lots of pep, but sometimes it's a bit sluggish for the first 5 minutes if the engine is cold.
- The leg room in the back seat isn't as roomy as my Highlander was, even though the 3rd seat has more than the Highlander did.
- Some of the interior feels a bit "cheap". Turns out the "Premium" is just above the "Base" and below the "Limited" and "Touring". My wife's Forester Touring is much nicer inside.

Eyesight. This is Subaru's top safety feature. The Ascent has the usual "modern" safety features like flashing when a car approaches on either side, or gets too close behind, or rear camera when backing up. Eyesight reads the road ahead. It gives alerts when the driver leaves the lane, or changes lanes without using the blinker, or when the vehicle in front starts moving. When using cruise control, the Ascent will slow down to a safe distance behind a slower vehicle.

But there's a kicker... there's also a "driver assist" feature to Eyesight. During the first couple of weeks, I noticed anytime I came into a curve that the vehicle would want to make the turn. I even tried it once, on a good country road with wide shoulders, and the vehicle turned by itself!  It does get a bit annoying after a while, so I turned it off. But it might come in handy for those who don't pay attention to the road, lol.

Safety features aside, I need an SUV to do the following: carry my kayak for long trips (instead of using my kayak trailer), have good cargo room, get good gas mileage, accomodate those times when I'm driving the grandkids (3rd row seat), have good reliability, and be a good purchase value (yes, I'm frugal).

The Ascent hit all those requirements. It's what SUVs were intended to be... an outdoors vehicle. Not some luxury vehicle, or a fashionable transport for soccer moms. If there's one thing I could change, it would be to bring back the step bumper that SUVs once had.

To see more detail on the photos above, click on the photo.